Response to Comments Document

Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) Development for the Watershed

Introduction

A final public meeting was held for the Rivanna River TMDLs on February 11, 2008. This project included a sediment TMDL to address a benthic impairment in the Rivanna River and bacteria TMDLs for the Rivanna River mainstem, North Fork Rivanna River, Preddy Creek, Meadow Creek, Mechums River, and Beaver Creek. The draft TMDL reports (Benthic TMDL Development for the Rivanna River Watershed; and Bacteria TMDL Development for the Rivanna River, Preddy Creek and Tributaries, Meadow Creek, Mechums River, and Beaver Creek Watersheds) were presented at the meeting and made available on the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) website. A public comment period on the draft TMDL report was held from February 11, 2008 until March 12, 2008. During the public comment period, three organizations submitted comments. Comments were received from Sally Thomas, Chair of the Rivanna River Basin Commission; Alyson Sappington, District Manager of the Thomas Jefferson Soil and Water Conservation District; and Angus Murdoch, President of the Rivanna Conservation Society. The full text of the original comments is attached, and a summary of the comments is provided below, followed by DEQ’s response.

Summary of Comments

All three commenters were supportive of the TMDL efforts in the Rivanna watershed. Each commenter described how the mission and conservation activities of their organization complement the TMDL process and goals. The main focus of each submittal was to recommend that the Rivanna River watershed be given high priority for TMDL Implementation Plan (IP) development and implementation funding. To support this recommendation, commenters cited the unique nature and value of the Rivanna River to the Commonwealth. Commenters also pointed out that timely development of a Rivanna River IP would produce cost efficiencies and leveraging opportunities with ongoing conservation activities and existing funding within the basin.

Response to Comments

DEQ thanks the commenters for their support of the TMDL and for their conservation efforts in the Rivanna River basin. DEQ considers each of the commenting organizations a valued partner in restoring and maintaining environmental quality in the Commonwealth. DEQ agrees with the commenters that the Rivanna River is a valuable natural resource worthy of protection. DEQ also agrees that ongoing initiatives and funding within the basin may create leveraging opportunities for TMDL IP development and implementation. DEQ will consider these factors and the commenters’ recommendations when developing the next prioritization schedule for TMDL IP development and implementation. Several of the ranking criteria used in developing the schedule involve the level of public support, interest, and activity in the watershed. Through the comments submitted, Rivanna stakeholders have documented these elements.

1

Rivanna Conservation Society Our Heart is With Our River ______

March 6, 2008

Charles Martin Department of Environmental Quality 629 East Main Richmond, VA 23218

Dear Mr. Martin:

The Rivanna Conservation Society (RCS) asks that the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality and the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation give high priority to the development and implementation of the Rivanna River TMDL. The RCS is delighted that the Commonwealth is among the few states to require TMDL implementation. The Rivanna is at the headwaters of the which drains to the . The Rivanna River provides water supply and community recreation. It also supports crop and animal agriculture, and serves as a protected habitat for the endangered spiny mussel.

For these and many other reasons the Rivanna has been identified as one of the finest Piedmont river systems remaining in Virginia and is deserving of special attention and TMDL implementation funding.

The RCS was created in 1991 to represent the public interest throughout the watershed. The Board of Directors is comprised of community leaders from Albemarle County, Fluvanna County, Greene County and the City of Charlottesville. RCS also chairs the Rivanna River Coordinating Group and has members serving on the Rivanna River Basin Commission.

Local scientists and environmental professionals acknowledge that the watershed has shifted from a forested to a non-forested environment as urban water which used to infiltrate into the ground and recharge our groundwater is now racing across the landscape and into streams, where it tears apart streambanks and buries the streambed in sediment. In addition to suffocating the life out of our rivers and streams, the sediment also fills the region’s reservoirs.

The TMDL process and the recently completed TMDL study dovetails with the community’s collective efforts to work on altered hydrology and sedimentation. An example of the community’s concern is reflected in the recently passed ordinance in Albemarle County which expands existing requirements to 100 feet of buffer.

P.O. Box 1501 Charlottesville, VA 22902-1501 Phone: (434) 97-RIVER (977-4837) · Fax: (815) 846-0917

Page Two

The TMDL study identifies sedimentation caused by higher runoff flows “as a primary stressor impacting benthic invertebrates in the biologically impaired segments of the Rivanna River.” The study also states that “improvement of the benthic community in the biologically impaired segment of the Rivanna River watershed is dependent upon reducing sediment loadings through stormwater control, as well as restoring instream and riparian habitat to alleviate the impacts of urbanization on the river.”

Our community is uniquely positioned to protect and restore our watershed and serve as an example for others faced with similar threats. As a result, giving the Rivanna watershed high priority for Implementation Plan development and implementation funding will ensure that the state’s resources will result in demonstrable results.

Working together, the citizens and organizations within this watershed can, if supported by the DEQ and the DCR can make great strides in abating the threat of sedimentation and achieving our mutual goal of protecting and restoring the rivers and streams throughout the Rivanna River watershed.

Sincerely,

/S/

Angus Murdoch President

Cc: Robbi Savage, Executive Director Sally Thomas, Chair, Rivanna River Basin Commission Robert Brent, DEQ

- 2 -